If Manny Pacquiao Signs With Al Haymon, Here Are 5 PBC Opponents He Could Face

Has Manny Pacquiao signed a deal with powerful manager Al Haymon to continue his lucrative boxing career? And if so, what does that mean for Pacquiao’s immediate future?

Manny Pacquiao has as variety of opponents he could face if he really has signed with PBC. (Photo by How Foo Yeen/Getty Images)

According to the Manila Bulletin, Pacquiao is now enmeshed with Haymon, the man who runs Premier Boxing Champions. A message from Forbes to a PBC spokesperson on Thursday asking him to confirm the report was not answered, but Boxing Scene cited multiple sources saying the reports were true.

Much of the so-called news that surrounds Pacquiao turns out to be no more than rumors—so certainly keep that in mind—but let’s take a moment and fantasize about what would happen if the news is true and that Pacquiao and Haymon/PBC are now aligned.

It opens up plenty more potential opponents for one of the best boxers (and the biggest money generators) of his generation. Coming off a career-saving knockout of Lucas Matthysse in July, Pacquiao, who will turn 40 in December, wants to continue on with his career.

Now that it appears he’s split with his former promoters Top Rank for good—the company wouldn't comment on the rumors but President Todd duBoef told Forbes on Thursday night, "We had a great body of work together"— Pacquiao can be promoted by whichever company he wants. If it was Haymon and PBC, here are five opponents he could face (and remember, it seems unlikely he could have landed any of these bouts if he were still with Top Rank, because of the frayed relationship between the two promotional groups).

1) Floyd Mayweather: It’s the fight that nobody asked for but it’s the one most everyone will likely buy again anyway. Although their first bout—an easy unanimous decision for Mayweather—was a complete dud (especially if you were the one footing the $99 it cost to watch it) in the ring, it generated the highest number of PPV buys (4.6 million) and the largest gate ($72.2 million) in boxing history. A rematch likely wouldn’t approach those original numbers. But you can be sure it still would earn a huge amount of money (and probably give both fighters another nine-figure payday). Yes, Mayweather would be the betting favorite, opening at -230 while Pacquiao sits as a +180 underdog.

2) Adrien Broner: This was the rumored fight that’s rocketed around the internet on Thursday. The idea is that Pacquiao would face Broner in a tune-up, and then, assuming Pacquiao wins, he could move on to Mayweather later in 2019. Although Broner has won only three of his last six fights, he still draws big ratings on Showtime and still draws big money. People love him, or they love to watch him lose. Pacquiao would most likely win this fight, and he could do it in front of a big audience, furthering the appetite for a Mayweather rematch.

3) Shawn Porter: This is another winnable fight for Pacquiao. Though Porter is coming off the biggest victory of his career, a unanimous decision win vs. Danny Garcia last month, he probably doesn’t have the power to knock out Pacquiao. He might, though, give Pacquiao problems with his nonstop aggression. The two sparred together about eight years ago, and recently, Porter reflected on how much fun he had, challenging Pacquiao at the time and trying to back him up in the ring. That gives credence to the idea that if these two were to face each other, it’s nearly impossible to imagine anything but an entertaining fight.

4) Keith Thurman: We haven’t seen Thurman fight since March 2017 when he beat Garcia and injured his arm. We don’t know when Thurman will be back. So, if there ever is a Pacquiao-Thurman matchup, you can bet it wouldn’t happen until probably 2020. It probably never will.

5) Errol Spence: If Pacquiao is, in fact, signing with PBC, that means he’ll probably never face Top Rank-promoted Terence Crawford (or Vasiliy Lomachenko, for that matter). Which is good because Crawford could end Pacquiao’s career in scary fashion. Spence, though, could do the same thing to Pacquiao, which is probably why it’s best for Pacquiao to avoid ever facing one of the best fighters (and most dangerous welterweights) alive in Spence.

In reality, Broner and Mayweather are probably the only fighters on this list Pacquiao would consider meeting. After all, Thurman had a pretty good point when he said this in 2017. “The thing about Manny is that he’s had his hurrah,” Thurman told RingTV.com. “And we’re not really sure how long he’s going to be performing for. …The only thing is that he’s kind of dying out because we’re getting flooded with all this young talent in the welterweight division and it doesn’t really seem like Manny Pacquiao is trying to compete with the rest of the herd.”

After more than a decade in the newspaper business writing about virtually every professional and major college sport for publications like the Cincinnati Post and the Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, I joined CBSSports.com and covered the NFL for five years. While doing so, I wrote...